The Forgotten Beast Has COME!
by Valdiviels0
Summary: The Forgotten Beast Has Come! Oh the horror! Oh the...well, it wasn't that bad in fact. Kind of easy to kill.


The Forgotten Beast has COME!

The Fortress of Dedukvutok Deduk Akim was growing both above and below the ground. The west drawbridge had been removed, as another wall was built to encircle a small piece of land, with three smaller bridges and doors, to allow access to it.

It rainy but did not stop the Nobles from ordering the laborers to work on the traps, doors, and expanding the walls needed to claim that small plot of land.

It became a military base, with the two surface barracks for the Surface Grunts and the Spits, and a archery field (that nobody seemed to use). The warriors slowly got use to the sunlight and rain. Not to say they enjoyed it as many were of the Stone Class and preferred their nice dry beds in their nice dark, underground rooms, with their cabinets and assigned seating during meal times.

The pig herd was growing and the ducks, turkeys and other birds were placed in their own coop and given their own nests, as the chickens were locked up and encouraged to produce more chicks. It was felt they would want some privacy from the other bids (who kept hogging the nests).

The Miners dug deeper and deeper looking for warm rock. Metal. Gems. ANYTHING!

What they found was the deepest cavern they had ever found, full of mud and thorny plants. And then they heard the roar!

Quickly they tried to build up the walls, remove the ramps, make it so that nothing could get into the stairway.

But even as one Dwarf and his kid were trying to place a rock into place it CAME!

Amomu Cewi Covace, leapt out of the darkness, its antennae whipping the air, its scale scales jagged and its spittle a form of frozen acid!

The Dwarf, normally a happy fishermen armed with a rod and hook, ran with his son up the stairway.

The Beast followed!

The alert spread and the Beast was met in one of the narrow tunnels, by the Stone Cutters, the elite fighting force of the Fortress. Already slightly wounded from stone traps it had set off and also confused by the doors it could not seem to open, it was just standing there.

After all HUGE mite it may be but still a insect without thumbs is going to find door knobs a tad beyond its grasp.

The battle was amazingly swift and one sided. The Beast was trapped between the tunnel walls, as Dwarfs swarmed all over it, knocking the frozen acid it spat at them like one knocks aside a thrown snowball.

The Dwarfs cut down the creature like a farmer cuts down cave wheat. It went down like a punk.

"Well, that was easy," said Kogan Oltarrir, who would from now on be known as 'BeastKiller' Oltarrir. Not to be confused with Kogan Ordoren. He had delivered the final blow to the creature.

As he turned away to head back down the tunnel with the rest of his unit he tried to clean his weapon off. But the gore was everywhere. He would have to take a bath!

Using a hammer at close range could be messy.

"Maybe I should switch to a crossbow," he murmured to himself. "Oh, hey you!" he added, pointing at a random Dwarf trying to reset one of the trap. "Take that thing to the surface and dump it."

"But it is huge!"

In fact the laborer would end up passing the body onto another Dwarf half way to the surface. The corpse was so massive that a new project, The Crusher, was suggested. The idea was a drawbridge on DRY land, controlled by a lever, would be used to destroy unwanted garbage, corpses, items, and other things.

To keep things neat and tidy. Too bad after it was finished people were too busy working to haul anything under it to test it.

The report of the battle was received with mixed reactions. While people were happy the thing was dead few turned out to be impressed by the tale told by the militia. The monster had not killed anybody and NONE of the Dwarfs involved in the melee needed medical care. The engravers refused to even record it in their artwork as they worked on the floor and walls of the new Pig Hospital. Most of their art was of past events such as the many, massive wars between the Elves and the Evil Humans, or about local events, such as the hiring or firing of certain Nobles from certain positions.

And the death of the creature was soon shoved to one side by more important news.

Warm rock had been discovered.

MAGMA! Magma was within reach. But it was dangerous to play with. You could not just dig into the warm rock. No, you had to feel your way around.

The Dwarf Miners worked slowly, feeling the stone with their beards, placing their ears against the walls to listen, even tasting the surface of the floor, like hounds on a sight. The Mayor himself helped, using his own pick, helping to dig out tunnels and haul away the rocks.

Finally, after some debate and searching, the floor in a certain spot was carefully channeled out.

And behold! Magma! The warm red glow reflected off the awe struck faces of the Dwarfs.

Quickly the area was made ready, widened, as a glass block was created on the surface.

The Dwarfs sweated and glanced at each other. They were very nervous. Things lived in the magma. Things that made Forgotten Beasts look like warm, fuzzy, bunnies.

Something might come out before they could properly install a magma smelter.

The difference between classes were forgotten as they adjusted their hold on their picks and wiped their dirty foreheads, brought together by the wonderful and terrible discovery and hope for the future of the Fortress. Magma. So many wonderful things could be done. So many horrible things could come out of it.

But soon the glass block was ready. Slowly it was hauled down the stairways and twisted tunnels and unending hallways. With relief the hole was covered by a new smelter and the Dwarfs cheered.

Soon iron and copper melted down from goblin weapon was moving upwards from the new workshop. Flux stone added, taken from the local mines, helped to make steel in the old forge.

Now that they knew where the magma was they could expand on the workshop, install more magma powered engines of industry. Soon fuel would no longer be needed in any of the steps in making steel (or glass).

On the 26th of Limestone, in the year 132, in Early Autumn, the Fortress finally felt like it was alive. Now it would work with steel without need for massive amounts of fuel. Now it was closer to being dependent!

The Miners and Dwarfs could now focus on expand the mines OUTWARDS, searching for more minerals, metals, and gems.

With the Forgotten Beast dead the caverns would be explored and exploited. Even the snowstorm that covered the world with whiteness when winter came did nothing to lower the hopes of the Nobles and the Stone Class. Even the Surface Dwellers felt somewhat better, knowing that soon their soldiers would be using (mostly) steel and iron weapons.

Nothing could stop them now!

Yet, in one of the caverns, not very deep in fact, another Forgotten Beast lurked. Yonali, a enormous hairy toad, with thin wings of stretched skin, it squirmed and fidgeted through the tunnels and chambers. Its lime colored hair was patchy (or maybe it was going bald) and it waited with deadly spittle.

It waited and waited. It could sense the Dwarfs. It knew its time would come.


End file.
